Backup remains the chore that many of us don't make time for. The premise behind Replica is straightforward enough-attach the Replica drive to your PC, and it will install some software on your PC, and then on its own begin making a "replica" of your drive's contents, including system files. (If you want to use Replica for system recovery, the system you're recovering the data to will need to be of the same configuration as the one the Replica is tied to.) After this initial backup finishes, the Replica drive continues to protect your data in real time, as long as the drive remains connected.
The Replica is no ordinary hard drive: It does not act as typical mass storage devices do, and you can't just use it for random storage tasks. Instead, it simply lives in the background, backing up your files as invisibly as it can. And it uses its own, albeit subtle interface within Windows Explorer to allow you access to your files. That said, Replica is no PC answer to Apple's / one-two punch.
Replica takes a minimalist approach: It has no buttons, and requires little babysitting. It has no buttons, just an inch-plus blue LED status light that flashes to show when the drive is in use, and a mini-USB port at back (the USB port plugs into the dock so the unit stands vertically; however, the dock requires two USB ports instead of just one for power). The simple design extends to the software: You don't launch software or a menu to view the Replica or see what the drive's status is; instead, simply right click on the drive's icon in the System Tray to view the handful of options available to you (Open, Safely Disconnect, Help, Select Password, Remove a PC, Select Drives to Backup, Properties, Check for Update). A pop-up window hovers over the System Tray icon when you mouse over the area; this is how you can check on the drive's status.
Your initial backup-which could take a long time, depending upon how much content your have-begins without any intervention. But here's where Replica's minimalism begins to go awry: Had I been given an indication of what Replica was doing, and what it was backing up, I may have caught on far earlier that Replica was experiencing a hiccup. I've raised this issue with Seagate, and await the company's response to this specific issue: On my MSI Wind U100 netbook, the Replica only sees, and backups, the primary C: partition. The 106GB D: partition, which is how the 160GB unit came configured, simply would not get backed up by the Replica. The Replica's manual says you can go into the Select Drives to Backup menu to confirm and select which attached drives will get picked up for backup, but for some reason, this didn't work with my netbook configuration.
That said, Replica worked fine for me when backing up a single-partition hard drive on a different notebook; it only seemed to have issues with the dual-partition config. I'll update this review when I hear more from Seagate.
Seagate's attempts at minimalism fall short in other ways, too. For example, since the Replica is not a standalone hard drive, it doesn't appear in Windows Explorer as a drive letter device. Instead, it shows as its name, simply Seagate Replica. Click on that icon, and you'll see icons representing the volume names of each PC you've backed up. The Replica software's reliance on a system's volume name is annoying, given that users rarely get to change the system's volume name. For example, Replica picked up my netbook's name as "YOUR-DC685EFCD2;" and since Replica has its own software, even though I viewed the name and content through Windows Explorer, I didn't have Windows Explorer niceties like "rename" available to me. Within the system volume, you see the C: drive, plus shortcuts to your content in Desktop, and My Documents. While I appreciate what Seagate was trying to do, this approach could get confusing fast, especially given that it doesn't quite mirror what you might see on your system's Explorer view.
Seagate tries to convey that you're viewing an atypical hard drive by imprinting "Replica" in the Explorer screen; but this tweak is so understated that its meaning is easily lost. And meanwhile, I found I often chafed at the inability to check file properties as I was used to in Windows Explorer-I understand Seagate's desire for simplicity, but the Replica environment is so similar to Explorer that it's hard not to expect such capabilities. One nicety in the Replica Explorer view: Hover over a file, and Replica shows not just the usual info of file size, but also how many versions are backed up and when the last Replica backup occurred. Right-click on a file to open or copy it.
One final annoyance about Replica: The status LED never seemed to go off on my system-even when I wasn't using it and actively creating files I'd have expected to need backup. As annoying as the near incessant flashing was, I was even more perturbed that its ongoing, no-interference necessary backup had no manual pause, which in turn led to issues with disconnecting the Replica (I got messages saying the device was still in use and couldn't be safely ended at that moment).
Conceptually, Seagate is on the right track. PC backups need to get simpler, and more hassle-free. Replica comes close, but it's a bit too simplified to truly be effective. (For more drives that assist with backups, see ") In other ways, it's like a jewel in the rough, a solid premise waiting to be polished so it can shine. Hopefully, some of my issues will be resolved in future firmware updates; I'll update this review if the situation changes.